The present invention is related to power hand tools. More particularly, the present invention is related to handles for power hand tools and a releasable attachment system for coupling the handles to the housing of the hand tool.
Most power hand tools have handles of one form or another to facilitate their use. Exceptions to this may be found in power hand tools that are small enough for the user to conveniently hold them in one hand. When they are slightly larger, some power tools have handles that are detachable so that the user can choose whether a handle is convenient or not and either remove or attach it. The use of a handle may be desirable on power hand tools that are known in the building trade as spiral saws, i.e., cylindrical units that use a bit that closely resembles a drill bit, but which has cutting surfaces on the sides of the bit for cutting holes in dry wall for example. A detachable handle may be desirable for use with such spiral saws so that a user can comfortably hold the tool in different positions. Also, since such hand tools may require significant force to move it about during cutting of certain materials such as drywall. In those circumstances, two handed operation whereby the user directly grips the tool housing may be most convenient. It may be inconvenient, however, to grip the tool housing directly or to use two hands when using the tool to operate in other positions. When using the tool to cut into an overhead surface, for example, it may be useful to have a handle attached to the tool for gripping. The provision of a detachable handle is advantageous in that a user may have the option of holding the tool directly by its housing or by the handle.
It is also desirable for such detachable handles to be easily attached and removed without the use of separate tools. At least one power rotary cutting hand tool has a rigid handle that has an attachment mechanism that engages a pair of recesses in the housing of the tool to firmly hold the tool and yet can be easily removed. That structure is disclosed in U.S. Patent (Ser. No. 10/161,944) entitled POWER TOOL HANDLE and assigned to the Robert Bosch Tool Corporation of Broadview Ill. While artisans may prefer not to have a rigid handle on the tool during some uses, it may be convenient and desirable to have a flexible handle attached to the tool during some operations and/or for carrying the tool between operations.
A preferred embodiment of the present invention is directed to a rotary hand tool having a flexible handle and an attachment system associated with the handle and the tool that enables easy attachment and removal of the flexible handle. The system has housing attachment recesses on the tool that receive attachment clips located at opposite end portions of the flexible handle. The attachment recesses are compatible for attaching a generally C-shaped detachable rigid handle which has opposite end portions with a gripping portion therebetween. The rigid handle has a release lever in one end portion and a fixed attachment arm on the other end portion for engaging the spaced apart attachment recesses of the tool housing.